Darren Shan (Movie)
This is the article about the movie character; for his novels counterpart see Darren Shan (Character) and for the author who writes under this name, see Darren O'Shaughnessy Cirque du Freak: The Vampire's Assistant A boy named Darren Shan begins his life as nothing less than a normal –were it not for his unhealthy obsession for arachnids- 16 year old boy. He is considered a good student and son amongst many people and likes it that way. That is, until, he begins to befriend, what some might call, a trouble-making boy by the name of Steve Leonard. Everything runs smoothly until a flier for a travelling freak-show intervenes, this will change both of their lives for the worst... Biography Darren was about to go to his usual classes when new-comer Steve persuaded him to abandon Mr Kersey's lesson. They went to the roof of the school and throw stones at windows and lamps, only to be caught. After being given a severe tongue lashing from both her parents and the school, Dani is forbidden to be involved with Steve. Darren agrees to this, if anything to please his parents, but continues to befriend Steve in secret; realizing that he no longer wishes to have things planned out for him by others. When a mysterious flier is thrown from a passing car, the number-plate labelled with the letters DES-TINY, it irreversibly changed the lives of our two young characters. As an act of rebellion- to prove that he didn’t want to live a predictable life, Darren went with Steve to The Cirque du Freak; where Steve recognized Mr. Crepsley as a Vampire by the name of Vur Horsten. Unable to resist the temptation, due to his love for spiders, Darren goes to steal Mr Crepsley’s performing spider, Madam Octa, and before he can be discovered, hides in the nearby cupboard. From here, he hears a conversation between Mr Crepsley and a fellow general, Gavner Pearl, about Vampires, Vampaneze and Vampire Generals. Soon, Steve enters the room and asks to be blooded, or turned into a vampire, only to find that he has bad blood, and as a result can never become one. Steve later leaves in a rage after swearing to kill Mr. Crepsley for his mistake. Before Mr Crepsley has time to react to the disappearance of his spider, Darren slips away through a secret passage through the back of the cupboard and escapes to find the same car from which he received the flier, its owner, Mr Tiny, is waiting for him. A Vampaneze by the name of Murlough is also present in the car. Darren is asked many questions about his beliefs and immortality. Afterwards, Darren goes back to school as if nothing had happens and puts Madam Octa in his locker in order to look after her as best he can. Steve notices Darren’s avoidance of him and asks to know why, he then finds Madame Octa. As Steve becomes aware of the fact that Darren had been present the whole conversation about wanting to be a vampire and Mr. Crepsley not granting his wish because of Steve's "evil" blood. The bell rings and Darren drops Madam Octa. She runs around the frightened people before biting Steve, who was trying to kill her out of spite. Steve is then forced into a fatal coma; Darren knows better than anyone that his death will now be inevitable unless he can find an antidote for the poison. Unable to help but feel responsible for the mess, a reluctant Darren Shan heads to the Theatre in order to find to find Mr. Crepsley and ask for his help. He says yes, but Darren must become half-Vampire. He unwillingly accepts and then gets blooded. They flit to the hospital where Steve is given the antidote. Darren then sets off the alarms and Crepsley runs away. Later, Darren comes home and almost bites his sister. Darren then goes into his room to see Crepsley there. After a brief discussion, they decide to 'kill' Darren. Darren is given the potion to numb him and slow his breathing and then Crepsley breaks his neck and throws him off the roof. At the funeral home, Steve sees the scars on Darren's fingers and then starts shouting at his 'corpse'. He is taken away by Mr. Kersey. Darren is then buried. Darren is unburied by Crepsley. Before they can get away, Murlough attacks! Almost managing to kidnap Darren and do away with his old foe Crepsley in the process. After an intense struggle, Mr. Crepsley manages to out think the Vampaneze by luring him in front of a moving truck; unfortunately resulting in the death of the driver as he tried to help. Both Mr Crepsley and Darren are able to escape, before coming to The Cirque Du Freak in seek of refuge. Upon arrival, also at the temporary consent of Circus Ringleader, Mr Hibernius Tall, Darren is given a tent space with Evra Von, more commonly known as “The Snake Boy”, and after bonding over their love of music and abnormality, the pair soon become friends. He, Evra and a girl named Rebecca do chores around the camp together, chores including; cleaning the Wolfman’s cage and getting food for the Little People. Darren then becomes acquainted with many of the performers, consisting of; “The Bearded Lady”, “The Thinnest Man”, “Corma Limbs” and a “Little Person” called Harkat Mulds, who had tried to bite Darren on the way to Evra's tent. Both Darren and Rebecca become really close to each other; despite this, however, Rebecca is hesitant to tell Darren what she is doing at a Circus of the abnormal, when she seemingly ever so ordinary. When Mr. Tiny comes to the Cirque, Darren is told to stay in his tent whilst Mr Tall and Mr Crepsley argue over his fate. A short time after, the Vampaneze attack without warning, Darren goes to the clothes trailer with Evra and Rebecca. The Vampaneze attack and Darren fights and escapes with the aid of Mr Crepsley; who tells him that until he accepts his nature and drinks blood, he will do little good to defend himself. Rebecca is soon kidnapped by the Vampaneze leaving Evra badly injured. When Darren finds out that Rebecca has been taken, he goes after her. Upon receiving Evra’s message that Darren needs to “come home.” Darren heads back to his house to find his family missing and the flier which started everything, with a note telling him to go to the theatre. He arrives to find the place abandoned and encounters Murlough as well as his family and Rebecca. During a short and brutal fight between Crepsley and Murlough, Rebecca escapes from her ropes by using her tail to untie them. Darren tries to fight Steve, but he is weak because he has not had any human blood to strengthen him, so he is beaten before he even has a chance to get into the fight. Rebecca, who has escaped relatively unnoticed, manages to pull Darren to safety. Since Darren needs to be stronger in order to fight she allows him to drink a small amount of her own blood. Darren and Steve battle it out as Crepsley and Murlough attempt to kill one another. Murlough wins against Mr. Crepsley having the advantage of numbers and Darren and Steve are stopped by Mr. Tiny, before Steve can kill Darren Mr. Crepsley stabs Murlough through the heart and ends the Vampaneze’s life . Steve and Mr. Tiny leave together; Mr Tiny offering to teach him his ways and promising that and prophesizes that Darren will join them soon, being as he is the blood thirsty one- to which Darren openly denies, stating that it is about who a person becomes as opposed to what people make them out to be. Darren and Mr. Crepsley go back to the Cirque, we see Mr. Tiny bring Murlough back as a Little Person and as a result we learn the shocking truth of where they come from. .. Once back at the Cirque, Mr. Tall holds a vote on whether or not Darren should be accepted into the Cirque as an official member. Despite the unknowing danger Darren brings, many agree that he should stay, including Harkat, as they all relate to being cast out from the world. Darren is now a “real vampire”, who can flit and sleep in a coffin. Trivia *Unlike his book counterpart, this version of Darren doesn't have a problem sleeping in a coffin.